Dear Friends, what
a great time we had at breakfast last Sunday – everyone had stories to tell –
we were all pleased to see Wendy & Alex and I suspect they were all
delighted to see us again. Judi told everyone the latest on their car; Margot
regaled us with a story of a cat on a lead that sits on the counter of a local
shop; Barbara told us about the cat she used to walk on a lead, and how many
cats like being at workplaces, and she was upstaged by Wendy, who used to have
a Siamese cat that leapt up onto the toilet to wee! Wes told everyone about
Wendy & Roberto’s romantic liaison and about Anita, the refugee we had met,
as well as describing his adventure with Foxtel the previous Friday.
Wes and Bilbo waiting patiently
for the Breakfast group to arrive – upstairs at the Food Gallery
We came home to do
gardening and plant the beautiful Diana, Princess of Wales rose I had bought
that morning from Ken. When I arrived at Yvonne & John’s stall, Yvonne
produced dill, fennel, salad onions, leeks & fiery red chillies – all items
I had been asking for and unable to get recently. She was very pleased with
herself and we were delighted with the extra produce. There were even dog apples
available again, so Bilbo is a very happy dog indeed.
Stunning, perfumed Diana,
Princess of Wales rose
Wes was keen to go
to the Trentham ALP Branch meeting in the afternoon to hear Prof Hal Swerrisen
speak and catch up with Bob White and I had planned to go with him. However I
was finally tired after our busy week and when I discovered that Barbara had
rung to see if the venue was wheelchair-friendly, I realised that he wouldn’t
be on his own after all and happily bowed out of going. Unfortunately, Barbara
couldn’t get into the brand-new home, even with the portable ramp she had
brought, so they had to come home again.
On Monday, Bilbo
& Wes were up early in the dark to walk around Lake Daylesford and catch up
with Barry, the fisherman, who was back from his latest trip to Thailand. I
went off to gym and was pleased with what I could manage to do. On my return,
Nick arrived to give me a long overdue massage and he angled the table so that
we could both watch the cricket.
Wes spent most of
the morning in the garden and tidied up the front, which needed some pruning and
watering. We had discovered a wasps’ nest in one of our big pots and Nick
offered to don his beekeeper gear and poison them, an offer we very gratefully
accepted.
This week’s selection of roses in
pink, peach & yellow tones
On Tuesday, Shane,
the Foxtel technician, promised to visit at 8am. He finally arrived at 3.30pm
and announced that he had no idea what was causing the problem. Wes had
installed everything correctly and we should have not been experiencing any
issues. He left after an hour, we had a very late lunch/early dinner, watched
an episode of ‘Jack Irish’ and discovered we had no local channels! Nick
created a diversion by arriving suited up in his beekeeper outfit to poison our
wasps’ nest, which took him no time at all.
The next morning,
after gym, Judi arrived in ‘Dolly Grey’ and I took over the driving to
Winchelsea, where there was an Exhibition of the costumes from the recent
Australian film, ‘The Dressmaker’. It took us 90 minutes to get there, with
very little traffic, as we were quite often on back roads, and we joined a fast
moving queue. Amazingly, the woman in front of us was someone Judi knew and
they were both surprised to find each other there.
The Exhibition was
very well done, although I was disappointed that Judi didn’t get to see some of
the lovely furniture in this beautiful old home, as nearly everything had been
removed to make way for the costumes, hats & huge still shots from the
film. We spent a good hour wandering around before finding our way to the café
at the back where Judi shouted Devonshire teas. She drove back home, which gave
her a chance to drive using our Tom Tom, and I showed her how the cruise
control worked as it is different from the one in their automatic car.
Beautiful fragrant old-fashioned Perfume
Delight rose on our tea table at Winchelsea
Back in Daylesford,
we came in here to find Wes on the phone to Stacey from Foxtel – he had emailed
her with the latest problems and she came up with a way to solve them – by the
time he had hung up, we had local stations and instant Foxtel, a huge apology
and an extra month of reduced payment.
The weather cooled
down overnight and it was quite pleasant when Wes & Bilbo walked early in
the dark. My most important job for the day was to get MCC Visitors tickets for
two AFL matches where I am taking guests this year, so I was seated in front of
my computer in plenty of time to do this, and managed to get undercover
reserved seats.
Mid-morning I
walked to the Daylesford Town Hall to be part of a very appreciative audience
listening to Jenny Beacham talk about some of the highlights of her life &
career, as part of the ‘Interesting Lives’ series introduced by Keira Lockyer.
Jenny & Eddie moved to Carlton in 1971 from the country and her memories of
Carlton resonated with me, as we were living in Brunswick on the borders of
Carlton & Parkville at that time and shared many similar experiences.
She talked of 1984
when Eddie became Lord Mayor of Melbourne, which was a year that Warren was
Mayor of Brunswick & another audience member, Pam Jenkins, was Mayor of
Collingwood. Jenny was lucky to meet Nelson Mandela, which rates very highly in
her list of unforgettable moments.
Jenny was the first
female State Secretary of the ALP and a long-time friend and staunch supporter
of Joan Kirner. After the talk and a quick chat with Jenny, who remembers Mary
(Molly) Owen very well, and was interested to know she was still alive aged 95,
I collected my car key from Judi and retrieved Dolly Grey, which had been
cleaned and polished to within an inch of its life.
On Friday morning,
Bilbo & I finally walked with the Daylesford Bushwalkers (shorter walk),
which was from the Blowhole to Bryce’s Flat. Everyone welcomed us warmly – one
of the walkers had a big basket of homegrown produce that she was offering
around – Jack Walker agreed to sit in the passenger seat with me, and off we
set for a lovely stroll. Sadly, everywhere is very dry and there wasn’t any
water to be seen in the creek as we walked along. Bilbo was the big winner at morning
tea – two apples, one pear, two cores and some banana. On the return journey, I
was able to spend time with Vera Killingback, whose husband, George, died in
November last year.
Après the walk – Bilbo having a
kip!
Wes spent time in
the garden, cleared out the wasps’ nest and took the four Foxtel set-top boxes
back to the post office.
That night we
watched Collingwood’s first pre-season game against Geelong at Kardinia Park –
not a happy hunting ground for the Pies in times gone by. It was a great game
and the Maloneys were delighted when we were able to hold on for an 8-point
win.
Yesterday we were
up and on the road before 7.30am to visit Leanne (me) and Leon Anderson (Wes).
We arrived at Strathmore armed with tomatoes & zucchini, parsley &
rosemary from our garden, as well as a few shopping items. Wes dropped me off
and spent an enjoyable time with Leon showing him the family graves at the
Coburg Cemetery. Leanne and I did a few chores together as well as chat over
cups of tea (me) and coffee (her). On our way home through Strathmore, we
stopped at ‘Gusto’ the local bakery and bought one of their huge yummy quiches,
which only cost $19.50. We ate some for lunch & froze the rest for another
meal.
Bilbo and I are
about to go out and pump water before descending on the Sunday Market and then
breakfast with friends at the Food Gallery.
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